When I was a little boy I would periodically go on vacation with my parents. It became a tradition to buy those cheap, laminated placemats featuring local landmarks. My favorite one was Alcatraz. Now that I'm a grown-up I've felt like we had to use cloth placemats instead, which is all well-and-good for those fancy dinners we have when we wear nice clothes and talk about business and politics during dinner, but what about when it's just my wife and I? Invariably every time we use those cloth placemats they get messy and we're forced to wash them and even though we don't put them in the dryer they are shrinking like crazy. At this rate we'll be out of placemats and instead have some nice cloth coasters before the end of the year. Thus the decision to make ourselves some new placemats, ones that I can just wipe off and won't shrink.
If you want to do one exactly like mine (I can't understand why you wouldn't) here is a list of supplies you will need:
x-acto knife
ruler
tape
carbon paper
pen or pencil
1 sheet of on the coast "reflection" paper
1 sheet of on the coast "still water" paper
1 sheet of happy day "streamers" paper
1 sheet of happy day "candle" paper
1 large sheet of textured cardstock or poster board
Directions:
1. I did my illustration on the computer using Adobe Illustrator. Before printing it I made sure to reflect the image so it was backwards.
2. Tape at least two corners of the printout to the back of one sheet of scrapbooking paper, this will keep the printout from moving. Slip one sheet of carbon paper in between the printout and the sheet of paper with the black side facing the scrapbooking paper.
3. Using a pen or pencil trace the image of your printout. The carbon paper will transfer it to the backside of the scrapbooking paper.
4. Remove the printout and carbon paper and cut out the part of the image that you want in that particular color with your x-acto knife. If you have one of those fancy cutting machines you can use that instead and it will save you from going through steps 2 through 4.
5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each of the sheets of scrapbooking paper.
6. Tape each of the cutouts together and then tape that on to your large sheet of textured cardstock. Mine is 12x18" and I rounded the corners.
7. Laminate it and enjoy eating without ever having to throw it in the washer again!
-Matt
If you want to do one exactly like mine (I can't understand why you wouldn't) here is a list of supplies you will need:
x-acto knife
ruler
tape
carbon paper
pen or pencil
1 sheet of on the coast "reflection" paper
1 sheet of on the coast "still water" paper
1 sheet of happy day "streamers" paper
1 sheet of happy day "candle" paper
1 large sheet of textured cardstock or poster board
Directions:
1. I did my illustration on the computer using Adobe Illustrator. Before printing it I made sure to reflect the image so it was backwards.
2. Tape at least two corners of the printout to the back of one sheet of scrapbooking paper, this will keep the printout from moving. Slip one sheet of carbon paper in between the printout and the sheet of paper with the black side facing the scrapbooking paper.
3. Using a pen or pencil trace the image of your printout. The carbon paper will transfer it to the backside of the scrapbooking paper.
4. Remove the printout and carbon paper and cut out the part of the image that you want in that particular color with your x-acto knife. If you have one of those fancy cutting machines you can use that instead and it will save you from going through steps 2 through 4.
5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each of the sheets of scrapbooking paper.
6. Tape each of the cutouts together and then tape that on to your large sheet of textured cardstock. Mine is 12x18" and I rounded the corners.
7. Laminate it and enjoy eating without ever having to throw it in the washer again!
-Matt
1 comment:
This will be a fun summer art project with the kids. Thanks for the inspiration!
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